1880 United States presidential election in California

The 1880 United States presidential election in California was held on November 2, 1880 as part of the 1880 United States presidential election. State voters chose six representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

1880 United States presidential election in California

November 2, 1880

Nominee Winfield S. Hancock James A. Garfield Party Democratic Republican Home state Pennsylvania Ohio Running mate William Hayden English Chester A. Arthur Electoral vote 5 1 Popular vote 80,426 80,282 Percentage 48.98% 48.89%

County Results Hancock   40–50%   50–60%   60–70% Garfield   40–50%   50–60%   60–70%

President before election Rutherford B. Hayes Republican Elected President James A. Garfield Republican

California narrowly voted for the Democratic nominee, United States Army officer Winfield Hancock, over the Republican nominee, Ohio representative James A. Garfield. The 144-vote margin was the smallest in any statewide presidential election since Henry Clay won Maryland by only four votes in 1832, and as of 2020 it stands as by percentage of the vote the eleventh-closest statewide presidential election result on record – although California would later see even closer results in 1892 and 1912.[lower-alpha 1] One elector cast a vote for Garfield.

This result constituted the first Democratic victory in California since 1856[1] when the Republican Party had only recently formed. The Democrats wouldn't carry the state again until 1892. The unexpected Democratic win was due almost entirely to the fact that Garfield was viewed as weaker than Hancock on the hot-bed issue of controlling immigration from China – which both major parties promised to do and which the California electorate was overwhelmingly in favor of.[2]

As a result of Garfield's loss, he became the first Republican to win the presidency without carrying California. This would not occur again until 120 years later.

Results

1880 United States presidential election in California[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	Percentage	Electoral votes
	Democratic	Winfield Hancock	80,426	48.98%	5
	Republican	James A. Garfield	80,282	48.89%	1
	Greenback	James Weaver	3,381	2.06%	0
	No party	Write-ins	70	0.04%	0
	Prohibition	Neal S. Dow	54	0.03%	0
	Anti-Masonic	John W. Phelps	5	0.00%	0
Invalid or blank votes					—
Totals			167,218	100.00%	6
Voter turnout					—

Results by county

County	Winfield Scott Hancock[4] Democratic		James Abram Garfield[4] Republican		James Baird Weaver[5] Greenback		Various candidates[5] Other parties		Margin
	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#
Fresno	64.60%	1,133	34.95%	613	0.46%	8			29.65%	520
Colusa	64.49%	1,607	35.39%	882	0.12%	3			29.09%	725
Stanislaus	60.69%	1,161	39.31%	752	0.00%	0			21.38%	409
San Benito	59.81%	646	39.72%	429	0.37%	4	0.09%	1	20.09%	217
Lake	59.33%	677	39.79%	454	0.88%	10			19.54%	223
Merced	58.60%	736	41.08%	516	0.32%	4			17.52%	220
Kern	58.44%	661	40.94%	463	0.62%	7			17.51%	198
Tulare	55.13%	1,306	38.71%	917	6.16%	146			16.42%	389
Mariposa	58.06%	598	41.94%	432	0.00%	0			16.12%	166
Mendocino	57.34%	1,313	42.31%	969	0.17%	4	0.17%	4	15.02%	344
Modoc	54.08%	490	45.25%	410	0.00%	0	0.66%	6	8.83%	80
Sonoma	52.14%	2,628	45.44%	2,290	2.20%	111	0.22%	11	6.71%	338
Del Norte	52.85%	297	46.80%	263	0.36%	2			6.05%	34
Siskiyou	52.36%	900	46.54%	800	1.05%	18	0.06%	1	5.82%	100
San Francisco	52.06%	21,471	46.27%	19,080	1.63%	672	0.04%	16	5.80%	2,391
Tehama	52.33%	954	47.61%	868	0.05%	1			4.72%	86
Yolo	51.83%	1,374	47.38%	1,256	0.64%	17	0.15%	4	4.45%	118
Tuolumne	51.65%	1,001	47.57%	922	0.77%	15			4.08%	79
El Dorado	51.30%	1,520	47.89%	1,419	0.81%	24			3.41%	101
Amador	51.12%	1,411	48.73%	1,345	0.14%	4			2.39%	66
Yuba	50.28%	1,185	49.43%	1,165	0.30%	7			0.85%	20
Shasta	49.97%	877	49.46%	868	0.57%	10			0.51%	9
Butte	50.25%	1,832	49.75%	1,814	0.00%	0			0.49%	18
Solano	49.70%	1,959	49.80%	1,963	0.33%	13	0.18%	7	-0.10%	-4
Trinity	49.14%	457	49.89%	464	0.97%	9			-0.75%	-7
Calaveras	49.18%	1,137	50.04%	1,157	0.78%	18			-0.87%	-20
Sutter	49.33%	591	50.25%	602	0.08%	1	0.33%	4	-0.92%	-11
Los Angeles	46.90%	2,853	47.90%	2,914	5.03%	306	0.16%	10	-1.00%	-61
San Bernardino	47.81%	711	49.09%	730	3.09%	46			-1.28%	-19
Monterey	48.16%	1,205	50.36%	1,260	1.48%	37			-2.20%	-55
San Mateo	48.32%	720	51.01%	760	0.67%	10			-2.68%	-40
Lassen	43.50%	301	46.68%	323	9.54%	66	0.29%	2	-3.18%	-22
San Joaquin	48.32%	2,409	51.51%	2,568	0.14%	7	0.02%	1	-3.19%	-159
Plumas	47.99%	645	51.93%	698	0.07%	1			-3.94%	-53
Santa Clara	46.67%	2,821	51.50%	3,113	1.74%	105	0.10%	6	-4.83%	-292
Nevada	47.27%	2,029	52.21%	2,241	0.51%	22			-4.94%	-212
Napa	46.84%	1,082	51.90%	1,199	1.13%	26	0.13%	3	-5.06%	-117
Mono	46.36%	821	51.55%	913	1.19%	21	0.90%	16	-5.19%	-92
Santa Cruz	44.96%	1,102	50.43%	1,236	4.49%	110	0.12%	3	-5.47%	-134
San Luis Obispo	41.99%	729	47.81%	830	9.85%	171	0.35%	6	-5.82%	-101
Ventura	46.40%	522	53.24%	599	0.36%	4			-6.84%	-77
Placer	45.43%	1,416	52.71%	1,643	1.86%	58			-7.28%	-227
Inyo	46.05%	274	53.95%	321	0.00%	0			-7.90%	-47
Santa Barbara	37.38%	717	47.29%	907	15.28%	293	0.05%	1	-9.91%	-190
Contra Costa	43.69%	1,010	56.31%	1,302	0.00%	0			-12.63%	-292
Sacramento	41.66%	2,817	56.11%	3,794	2.22%	150	0.01%	1	-14.45%	-977
Marin	41.71%	561	56.58%	761	1.71%	23			-14.87%	-200
San Diego	41.74%	546	56.80%	743	1.45%	19			-15.06%	-197
Alameda	39.34%	3,894	59.59%	5,899	0.82%	81	0.25%	25	-20.25%	-2,005
Alpine	38.32%	41	61.68%	66	0.00%	0			-23.36%	-25
Humboldt	24.91%	735	50.49%	1,490	24.57%	725	0.03%	1	-25.58%	-755
Sierra	35.65%	559	63.58%	997	0.77%	12			-27.93%	-438

Notes

1. Other closer results have been Florida in 2000 (closest), Maryland in 1904 (although voters voted for individual electors), Maryland in 1832, New Mexico in 2000, Kentucky in 1896 and Kentucky in 1952, Hawaii in 1960 and in New Hampshire in 1916.

References

1. Dave Leip’s Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections; Presidential General Election Results Comparison – California
2. Gold, Martin; Forbidden Citizens: Chinese Exclusion and the U.S. Congress: A Legislative History; p. 141 ISBN 1587332353
3. "1880 Presidential General Election Results - California". Dave Leip's U.S. Election Atlas. Retrieved 2008-08-25.
4. Géoelections; Presidential election of 1880 Popular Vote (.xlsx file for €15)
5. Géoelections; Presidential election of 1880 Popular Vote for James B. Weaver (.xlsx file for €15)